FERRIDAY — Coming off a stunning upset loss at Lake Providence last Tuesday night, the Ferriday Lady Trojans were in a must-win situation Friday night as they hosted the Jonesboro-Hodge Lady Tigers.

Ferriday needed a win in the worst way to stay with Jonesboro-Hodge and Lake Providence in what is now a three-team race for the District 2-2A championship. And the Lady Trojans needed to pick themselves up after Lake Providence beat them 54-40 just 72 hours earlier.

And thanks to the effort of guard Chante Poole and some outstanding defense throughout the game, the Lady Trojans defeated the Lady Tigers 57-48 to improve to 25-5 overall and 5-2 in district play.

“It was crucial for us to win tonight,” Ferriday head coach Lisa Abron said. “We need to keep our high seed. We needed a win against a good J-Hodge team. The first loss against J-Hodge put a damper on what we wanted to accomplish. We may end up in a tie for second place. It depends on what happens with J-Hodge and Lake Providence.”

Jonesboro-Hodge fell to 13-11 overall and 4-2 in district play. Lake Providence entered Friday night’s game at Sterlington with a 4-1 district record. After that, Lake Providence hosts Jonesboro-Hodge Tuesday in a game that will go a long way in determining whether there is a three-way tie for first place or the Lady Panthers end up winning the district title outright.

Abron added that with the LHSAA now determining the playoff seeding by power rankings, the Lady Trojans, currently No. 3 in the Class 2A power rankings, may still end up getting a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.

Ferriday’s defense forced several turnovers and never really allowed Jonesboro-Hodge to get on track, even though the Lady Tigers battled back from a rough first quarter to trail by one point at halftime. But the Lady Trojans responded with a 19-11 advantage in the third quarter to up their lead to nine points.

“We did a much better job as opposed to the first game we played J-Hodge,” Abron said. “We played for both halves this game.”

With Jalessia Davis still out of action since spraining her ankle in practice on Jan. 22, Ferriday has had to rely on its guard play in the last four games. And Poole stepped up in a big way as she led all scorers with 29 points. Jasmine Butler added 16 points.

“Chante has stepped up for us the last couple of games,” Abron said. As for how the absence of Davis has affected her team, Abron said, “We miss her rebounding and blocked shots. Our strong inside play is just not there right now. We’ve got to get our inside game together.”

Davis showed up for Friday night’s game without crutches, which Abron said is a good sign. Davis told Abron that she wants to play in the Lady Trojans’ district finale next Tuesday, a home game against Farmerville during Senior Night. However, whether that happens remains to be seen.

“I don’t know if she’ll be able to work out on it. She recently had an MRI, and the doctors said it looked good, but I don’t know. We’ll probably dress her out,” Abron said.

West Lincoln 47, Cathedral 35

BROOKHAVEN — Hannah Knouse and Julie Case scored 13 points to lead the Lady Bears past the Lady Green Wave Friday night in Region 8-1A action.

The first half was a seesaw battle between the two teams and ended with West Lincoln holding a 20-18 lead. But the third quarter proved to be the difference as the Lady Bears outscored Cathedral 17-3 for a commanding 37-21 lead.

Ginny Daggett led Cathedral (9-15, 6-6) with a game-high 14 points. The Lady Green Wave will be the No. 4 seed in next week’s Region 8-1A Tournament at Dexter.

Vidalia defeats Bunkie

VIDALIA — The Vidalia Lady Vikings picked up their first District 3-3A win of the season by defeating the Bunkie Lady Panthers Friday night to improve to 4-18 overall and 1-7 in district play. No other information on the game was available.